In a Blink (Disney

by Kiki Thorpe

  But it had been a long day, full of surprises. Soon enough, their giggles gave way to yawns. One by one, Gabby, Lainey, and Mia dropped off to sleep.

  Kate lay awake for a long time. She was too excited to sleep. All her life she had secretly believed that something extraordinary would happen to her. Now it finally had, and she didn’t want to miss a single moment.

  When she was sure everyone else was asleep, Kate threw back the covers and crept out of bed. Standing on tiptoe, she peeped into Prilla’s and Tink’s hammocks. They were asleep, too.

  Quietly, Kate parted the willow branches and stepped outside.

  If Pixie Hollow was enchanting by day, it was even more so at night. Lanterns glowed softly in the trees. A warm breeze stirred up the scent of jasmine.

  Kate made her way toward the meadow, the grass deliciously cool under her bare feet. She threw her arms wide and spun with joy. Today had been marvelous. And who knew what tomorrow would bring? There were no parents or teachers here, no rules or restrictions. Nothing but days and days of adventure ahead …

  A laugh rang out from the darkness. Kate looked around. “Who’s there?” she whispered.

  A cricket’s chirp was the only reply.

  A cloud crossed the moon. Kate shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. I’m imagining things, she thought.

  But the night seemed darker now. Turning, Kate started quickly back to the willow, brushing past a primrose bush. In her hurry, she didn’t notice the pair of eyes gleaming at her from within its branches.

  When the girls awoke the next morning, they found a basket of freshly baked muffins waiting for them outside the willow tree. Tucked inside the basket was a note from Queen Clarion.

  The note was written in Leaf Lettering, the secret fairy alphabet. Tink read it for the girls. “ ‘You’re to come to the fairy circle this morning,’ ” Tink said. “The queen has news.”

  “The fairy circle!” Prilla exclaimed. “It must be something important.”

  After breakfast, Prilla and Tink led the way across the meadow. It was another sparkling day. The sky was robin’s-egg blue, and the grass smelled fresh with dew. The girls laughed and chatted as they walked.

  But when they reached a little clearing in the woods, they got quiet. Around a hawthorn tree, a ring of toadstools sprouted from the mossy ground. A hushed feeling hung in the air. The girls could tell it was a magical place.

  Queen Clarion was seated on a snow-white toadstool. On either side of her sat a fairy.

  “This is Rain, a weather-talent fairy,” said Queen Clarion, introducing the fairy on her left. “Rain knows all there is to know about the weather of Never Land. And this is Skye, a seeing talent.” Queen Clarion nodded to the other fairy. “Skye can see things the rest of us can’t. She and Rain have news about how you came to Never Land.”

  Rain stepped forward. “A southern puff was bellowing,” she said. “Cold highwilds drove the isle mainlandish—”

  “What she means,” Skye broke in, “is that we think Never Land rode the waves all the way to your home.”

  “Waves? You mean like the ocean?” asked Kate. Skye nodded.

  “But that’s impossible,” said Mia. “We don’t live near an ocean.”

  “Nothing’s impossible,” Skye said. “The island does what it wants. We think it came so close to your world that it only took the tiniest tug to bring you here.”

  “My blink!” Prilla realized.

  “Exactly,” said Skye. “I want to show you something.”

  From behind a toadstool, she dragged out an old pair of spectacles. The lenses were foggy. The wire rims were bent. The glasses clearly had seen much better days.

  “Glasses?” asked Kate. She had been expecting something more exciting.

  “I found these washed up on the beach one day,” Skye explained. “I fixed them with a little fairy magic. Step inside the fairy circle and try them on.”

  As usual, Kate stepped forward first. She stood in the middle of the ring of toadstools. She put on the glasses. Instead of seeing the forest in front of her, she saw a familiar front door. “I can see my house!” she cried.

  The other girls tried the glasses, too. They all saw their own homes. “But why does it look so misty?” Lainey asked.

  “The glasses tell you how close to the mainland you are. The farther away you are, the harder it is to see,” Skye said.

  “When will we be close again?” Mia asked.

  Rain held up something that looked like a pinwheel. It spun in the breeze. “Elephoons running north,” she said, watching the wheel spin. “Could be as soon as sun-twixt.”

  “What she means,” Skye said, “is that it might be very soon. Between the next sunrise and sunset, in fact.” When the girls looked puzzled, she added, “Prilla can blink you home tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Tink said, perking up. That meant her days of Clumsy-sitting were almost over. She could go back to her workshop! Tink couldn’t help herself—she clicked her heels with joy.

  Kate looked around at her friends. Their unhappy faces mirrored what she was feeling. “But we just got here,” she said. “Do we have to leave already?”

  “It might be your only chance,” said Skye. “We don’t know when Never Land will drift that way again.”

  “Skye and Rain, you’ve been very helpful,” Queen Clarion told them. The two fairies nodded to the queen. Then they flew away.

  As the girls left the fairy circle, Kate felt as if she might cry. It’s not fair, she thought. We haven’t even had an adventure yet.

  “Well, what would you like to do on your last day in Pixie Hollow?” Prilla asked. She tried to make her voice light, although she felt as sad as the girls did. She was sorry to see them go so soon. “We could go blueberry picking? Or leaf-boat racing? Or maybe wild mushroom hunting?”

  “Flying,” Kate said. She hadn’t even known she was going to say it. The word popped out of her mouth. But once it had, she knew it with all her heart. “I want to fly.”

  “Yes!” Mia agreed, her face brightening.

  “I want to fly, too!” said Lainey.

  “Me three!” said Gabby.

  “Gabby, you’re too little—” Mia began. But Gabby gave her such a glare that Mia shut her mouth.

  “We want to learn to fly,” Kate repeated. “All of us.”

  Prilla looked at Tink, who shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” Tink said. “I’ll ask if Terence can spare some fairy dust.”

  All the girls cheered.

  Kate cheered loudest of all, because a plan was starting to form in her mind. It was a crazy, brilliant plan—a plan for returning to Never Land.

  For their flying lesson, Tink led the girls to a bend in the stream. The ground here was carpeted with soft moss. Tree branches formed a canopy overhead.

  “It’s a good place to learn,” Tink said. “Plenty of branches to catch yourself on, and a nice soft landing.”

  Terence had come along with them and had brought a small sack of fairy dust. “Who’s first?” he asked the girls.

  “Me!” said Kate. She watched as Terence measured out a tiny fairy cupful of dust. “That’s all we get?” It didn’t look like enough dust to make her fly. It hardly looked like enough to make her sneeze.

  “Fairy dust is precious,” Tink said. “Everyone gets a cupful a day. No more, no less. Hold your breath now. You don’t want any blowing away.”

  Kate held her breath as Terence poured the dust over her. At once, she felt a tingle from the tips of her ears to her toes. It felt like warming up next to a fire after a day of playing in the snow. She flapped her arms, but nothing happened.

  “Now what?” she asked.

  “Patience,” said Tink. Terence was pouring dust over the other girls.

  “Ooh!” Prilla fluttered up and down. “This is so exciting!”

  “Think of something light,” Tink said. “Wriggle your shoulders. Bounce on your toes.”

  The girls concentrated. They wrig
gled. They bounced. And then …

  “Oh my gosh!” Mia squealed. Her feet were leaving the ground. “Gabby, hold on!” Mia clutched her little sister’s hand and together they rose into the air.

  “Look at me! I’m flying!” Lainey cried, floating up next to them.

  Kate still wasn’t moving. She pushed off the ground—hard—and shot high into the air. “Hey! Look at meeee— Ow!” Kate bonked her head on a tree branch. Clutching her head, she sank back down to the ground.

  “Meow?” Lainey giggled as she floated by. “You sound like a cat, Kate.”

  Kate scowled and rubbed her head. Gabby bobbed past, her wings fluttering in the breeze. “Come on, Kate. It’s fun,” she said. She turned a shaky somersault in the air. “Wheeeee!”

  Kate pushed off again. But instead of going up, she went sideways. “Ooof!” she grunted as she hit a tree trunk. She landed on the ground again.

  Above her, Mia was swimming gracefully through the air. Kate watched her jealously. Mia looked like a mermaid, with her long hair streaming out behind her.

  Kate scowled. Why can’t I fly like that? At home, she was usually the one who was good at things.

  Maybe I’m not trying hard enough. Kate closed her eyes. She thought of light things—feathers, clouds, dandelion fluff. She thought so hard she gave herself a headache.

  “I can see the whole world!” Mia cried from somewhere above her.

  Kate gritted her teeth. “Concentrate!” she told herself. She pushed off again. This time she rose higher … and higher.…

  “I did it!” cried Kate. “I’m flying!”

  She was headed right toward Mia. Why is Mia holding on to that tree branch? Kate wondered.

  At the last second, Kate noticed Mia’s pale face. She saw how tightly Mia was gripping the branch. She realized that Mia was terrified.

  But it was too late. Kate couldn’t stop. She crashed into Mia, who let go of the branch. They both screamed as they started to fall.

  “Think of flying!” Tink shouted at them. “Believe you can fly!” But the girls couldn’t think of anything but the ground speeding toward them.

  Kate smacked into Lainey on the way down. Now all three were falling.

  Splash!

  Splash!

  Splash!

  One after another, the girls landed in Havendish Stream.

  Gabby was still doing air-somersaults. But seeing the older girls fall, she fell, too. Gabby always wanted to do what the big kids did. She landed in the stream right next to Kate. Splash!

  The girls were soaked. They were shivering. “Thanks a lot, Kate,” Mia said through chattering teeth.

  Just then, they heard a high, silvery sound, like little bells ringing. It was Tink laughing. The girls stared, astonished. They’d never heard Tink laugh before.

  “I think,” Tink said, wiping her eyes, “that’s enough flying for one day.”

  Kate was quiet on the way back to Pixie Hollow. She walked slowly behind the other girls, thinking.

  Terence had said that other kids had once flown to Never Land with Peter Pan. If that was true, Kate and her friends could fly there, too. That was Kate’s plan—to come back to Never Land whenever she wished. Just because other kids hadn’t come back didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

  For Kate’s plan to work, though, she had to learn to fly. But she hadn’t flown—not for more than a moment, anyway. Certainly not well enough to fly across an ocean.

  And now it was too late. Tomorrow they had to go home and leave Pixie Hollow behind—maybe forever.

  The more Kate thought, the more slowly she walked. The more slowly she walked, the more she fell behind. At some point, Kate realized she could no longer hear her friends’ voices.

  She stopped and looked around. She wasn’t sure which way to go.

  “Hello?” she called uncertainly. “Hey, guys?”

  The leaves of a bush nearby rustled. Kate spun around. She remembered she was in a strange forest. Who knew what kind of creatures lived there?

  Kate picked up a big stick. Holding it like a sword, she faced the bush.

  Out flew a fairy.

  Kate sighed, relieved. “Just a fairy!”

  “Yes, clever one, I’m a fairy.” The fairy had long black hair and a pale, pinched face. Her wings were narrow and pointed like knives. “Are you planning to bash me with that stick?” she asked Kate.

  Kate lowered the stick. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I go where I please, darling,” the fairy said with a sniff. “What are you doing here? And why are you all wet?”

  Kate looked down at her damp clothes. “We had a flying lesson,” she said. “It didn’t go very well.”

  The fairy smirked. “Clumsies can’t fly. They don’t have wings!”

  “My friends don’t have wings and they flew,” Kate pointed out.

  “Is that so? Then I guess you simply have no talent,” the fairy said.

  “I guess not,” Kate agreed sadly.

  “Although, if you really want to fly, I might be able to help you,” the fairy said.

  “How?” asked Kate.

  “Well, sweet, I am the best fast flier in Pixie Hollow.” As if to prove it, the fairy buzzed a circle around Kate’s head.

  A flying-talent fairy! Kate’s heartbeat quickened. She noticed how this fairy’s wings sliced the air as she flew. Other fairies fluttered. “You’d really help me?” Kate asked.

  “I could. Though I’d need your help in return,” the fairy said slyly.

  “Of course,” Kate agreed.

  “Then meet me at moonrise in the orchard. By the sour-plum tree.” The fairy turned to leave.

  “Wait!” Kate called. “What’s your name?”

  The fairy glanced back. “Vidia.”

  Somewhere in the back of Kate’s mind, the name rang a bell. But she hadn’t been listening when Prilla warned them about Vidia. “My name’s Kate,” she said.

  Vidia shrugged as if Kate’s name was not important. She started away.

  “Oh! Wait!” Kate called. “How do I get back to …” She trailed off. Vidia was already gone.

  Just then, Tink flew up. “There you are!” she cried when she saw Kate. “We’ve been looking for you.” She looked around. “Who were you talking to?”

  “It was—nothing. Nobody,” said Kate. For some reason she didn’t want to tell Tink about her flying lesson with Vidia.

  Tink’s brow furrowed. But to Kate’s relief, she didn’t ask any more questions. “Well, come on, then,” Tink said. “The other girls are waiting.”

  Even Tink’s scowl didn’t dampen Kate’s spirits. She was going to learn to fly—from the fastest flier in Pixie Hollow!

  That night, after her friends fell asleep, Kate sneaked out of the willow room. At the edge of the orchard, she spotted a bent tree with twisted branches. Right away she knew it was the sour-plum tree.

  “Vidia?” Kate whispered. A moment later, she felt a tiny breeze as Vidia flew up beside her.

  “I’m ready for my flying lesson,” Kate told her.

  “First things first, dearest. We need fairy dust.” Vidia held out something that resembled a man’s sock.

  Kate looked closer. It was a man’s sock. It was long and red with a stitched-up hole in the toe. “I took it from a pirate,” Vidia told her. “Don’t worry, I washed it.”

  “What’s it for?” asked Kate.

  “To carry the dust, clever one! Now go ahead. Fill it up.”

  “The whole thing?” Kate was shocked. The sock was as long as her forearm. “Tink says everyone only gets a cupful.”

  Vidia smirked. “Tink doesn’t care about flying. Not like we do.”

  “But—”

  “Use your head, sweetness. If a tiny cup of dust helps you fly, think how much faster you’d go with more.”

  Kate took the sock. “Why can’t you get the dust yourself?” she asked.

  “Dearest, if we stand around talking all night long, there wi
ll be no time for flying,” Vidia said. “Now off you go.”

  As Kate started away, Vidia added, “Don’t worry, fairy dust belongs to us all.”

  Kate walked along the stream toward the mill. She felt funny. It didn’t seem right to take fairy dust in the middle of the night. It seemed like stealing.

  But Vidia said fairy dust belongs to everyone, Kate reminded herself. Besides, she would need extra fairy dust for all her friends to fly back to Never Land, too.

  Ahead, in the moonlight, she could see the mill. Kate tiptoed closer. She hoped Terence was there. Then she could just ask for the fairy dust.

  “Hello?” Kate whispered. “Anyone here?”

  The only sound was the splish-splash of the waterwheel turning in the stream.

  Kate tried the big double doors. They opened easily. Through them, she could just make out the shapes of the pumpkin-canisters.

  Kate was too big to crawl inside. But she could easily fit her arm through the door. She reached in and pulled a pumpkin toward her. Taking off its lid, she saw that it was three-quarters full. The dust glittered faintly in the moonlight.

  Kate dipped her hand in and pulled out a fistful … and another and another. In the end, it took most of the dust in the pumpkin to fill the sock.

  Fairy dust belongs to everyone, Kate told herself again. She put the canister back and closed the doors.

  As she stood, she noticed that her hands were sparkly with dust. She could feel its magic already starting. She half ran, half flew all the way to the sour-plum tree.

  Vidia grinned when she saw the filled sock. She scooped out a big portion for herself, then one for Kate. When she was done, Kate tied the sock through a belt loop in her jeans.

  “All right. Follow me,” Vidia said, and dove into the air.

  Kate sprang after her. The extra fairy dust made her feel powerful. In a flash, she was high above the sour-plum tree.